Tokka Week
by Winter Sapphire
Summary: Day Three: Weather; her emotions were whirling inside of her like never before.
1. Betrothal

Yaaaay, Tokka week! So, while this is about two and a half hours late to actually being posted on the first actual day (unless you're on the west coast and it's only like 11:30 PM rather than 2:30 AM), this is for the first theme: Betrothal.

Except, there's a twist; there's no Sokka in this fic, other than his name being mentioned once at the end... but it is Tokka, so I implore you to read it... please? :D

That being said, enjoy Tokka week and I'll see you either sometime later today with another installment or sometime tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning with said installment.

Happy reading! Reviews are loved.

(I need to stop writing at 2AM in the morning. I ramble.)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters... sorry?

* * *

**Tokka Week: Day One**

Betrothal

* * *

There was an odd stillness to the air as Toph sat in the open grounds of her home, absentmindedly fingering the lapels of her robes, and for the first time in what seemed like years Toph just _thought_.

She thought of the war that had been going on for a one hundred years until just a few years back - and all the pain and destruction it had caused. She thought back to her friends - her _true_ friends whom she had fought beside and learned to love, not those stuck-up classy people who saw themselves as gods or spirits or whatever they thought themselves as. And then she thought of _him_.

It had all been so sudden that Toph almost thought she had been imagining it. Almost. And she really, truly wished she had.

It wasn't like she hated the poor guy. Rui was a good man, if not a bit clumsy in his awkward transformation into an adult. He was kind and gentle, sincere and down-to-earth, and most importantly (at least to her parents) wealthy with the Ran Bao name tagged on the end. To everyone who saw him, Rui was pretty much perfect - for anybody _but_ her.

A single tear started to roll down Toph's cheek before she hastily brushed it away, shaking her head defiantly. It wasn't fair.

"Hey."

She had known he was coming before he sat on the ground next to her, and she muttered a quiet, "Hey," in response.

Rui smiled gently at her as he folded his hands in his lap, appraising his fiancé curiously. "I decided to stop by and your parents told me I could find you out here. I thought maybe we could do something... like, ah, listen to the birds or... something?"

Toph shifted slightly in response, shrugging nonchalantly. "Whatever."

Rui frowned slightly, reaching to scratch the back of his head, "I mean, we don't have to if you don't want. It was just an... idea." He watched her as she stared at what she didn't see before sighing, "I'm sorry, you know."

"For what?" Her voice was distant and emotionless she knew it, but Toph found she really couldn't care.

"I didn't ask for the arranged marriage, Toph, and I'm really, really sorry you got roped into something you don't want, but..." Rui trailed off for a second before continuing, "is it... am _I_... really that bad?"

Toph was silent for a moment, biting on her lip in apprehension before she responded, her tone slow and careful. "Rui... I'm seventeen. Almost eighteen. I came back to my family because I thought they could be _proud_ that I was my own person, that I'd... helped save the world. And for a while... for a while I actually thought they were. They didn't treat me like a kid anymore." Toph barked out a bitter laugh. "Four years they fooled me into believing they actually _saw_ me - and then they told me about you."

She shifted again, this time towards him. "Rui, that's the difference. You've had your entire life to get used to the idea of me. I've had a year."

Rui nodded slowly as he settled down onto the ground, flopping on his back to look at the slowly darkening sky. "You already love someone."

If he saw her flinch he didn't let on. "Yeah. I do."

There was a moment of silence between them, and for once Toph found it to be not so much as awkward but peaceful. She could hear Rui's slow, almost calculated breaths as he soaked the information in, and Toph vaguely noticed the soft breeze that had begun to blow through the grounds.

"You should go to him."

Toph blinked out of habit at Rui's voice, shaking her head slowly. "What?"

"This guy," Rui sat up suddenly, placing his hand on her shoulder and clutching it urgently, "You need to go to him. Does he know? You need to tell him! Run away tonight and find him, and tell him and-"

Toph gawked as he rambled on, only half-listening to the words he was spewing. She stuttered slightly as she stood to her feet, mustering up a look she figured would be one of shock, "What- what the _heck_ are you talking about!?"

"You ran away when you helped the Avatar, right?" Toph nodded slowly, frowning. "Well, then, just run again. Go find him, and tell him."

"But-" an indignant expression crossed over Toph's face, "but our engagement-"

"You don't want it," Rui stood up then, and though he knew she couldn't see him he looked right into her eyes, "You don't want it, and I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to do, family ties be damned. People deserve to be happy, Toph, and if this guy makes you happy you shouldn't let a stupid arranged marriage get in your way."

For a second Toph hesitated, but it was only a second and the next thing she knew she was grinning her grin (her "maniacal grin" as Sokka had once put it), punching Rui affectionately on the arm as she bounded back towards her estate. For the first time since her seventeenth birthday Toph finally started to feel like herself again, and she realized that maybe those stuck-up (or not so stuck-up), classy (he was still classy) people in the world weren't always so black-and-white, and maybe - just maybe - they sometimes deserved to be called a true friend as well.

Toph turned as she stood in the doorway, the grin still etched on her face as she shouted out to him in departure:

"I'll send you a messenger hawk once I get to the South Pole!"

**END**


	2. Worst Case Scenario

Okay, so I might have to edit around the ending of the last chapter... because I decided that it was not the end. These are all going to be connected, my mind has decided. So this is actually like... a multi-chapter story. Whoa, go me.

So, enjoy, and I'll see you tomorrow with the next bit!

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**Tokka Week: Day Two**

Worst Case Scenario

* * *

Toph wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but she sure as hell knew it hadn't been this. The snow squelched between her toes, wet and cold and - _god, _she had to find some way to see with shoes on (and it had been pretty stupid to not bring shoes here since she couldn't see anyway) because she was pretty sure if she stayed out here a minute longer her feet would be so frozen they would never unthaw and she'd be doomed to a life of walking on her hands.

Shuddering slightly, Toph took another step, ignoring the cold that coursed through her feet; at least she could still _feel_ it.

"Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid." Toph groaned, trudging blindly forward in hopes that it would lead her _somewhere_.

But as she moved forward the snow only seemed to get thicker and thicker, and Toph found herself moving slower and slower. The cold was blistering, and Toph found herself surprised that it felt like it was burning. She wasn't sure what she had expected it to feel like, but that certainly hadn't been at the top of her list.

"So," Toph muttered darkly to herself, suppressing a shiver that was trying to worm its way out of her, "if I make it out of this I can start the list of why not to come back as _cold burns_. Brilliant." Toph froze suddenly, a frown etching across her face in confusion. Had someone just called her name? She could have sworn she had heard someone call her name. Shaking her head slowly, she sighed, "Great, and I'll add _hallucinogenic sounds_ at the end of it."

"Toph, Toph! Stop moving that way! Stop-"

Toph's head jerked upwards. She hadn't imagined _that_. Her body pivoted towards the voice faster than she should have, and she wobbled slightly as a familiar pair of strong arms caught her.

"Spirits, Toph, do you have a death wish? It's freezing out here and-" he paused, "You're not even wearing shoes, are you?"

But at the moment shoes were the farthest thing from Toph's mind, and as the exhaustion from the day threatened to overtake her she couldn't help but break out into a grin.

"It's good to see you too, Snoozles."

The water tribe boy (man, she reminded herself; he _was_ practically twenty-one) sighed, scooping her up in her arms despite any protests she might have voiced had she thought about it. "Come on, you idiot, let's get you warmed up."

--

"What in the world were you _thinking_?!"

Toph sat still, clutching desperately at the wool blankets that had been thrown over her the minute they had reached the village, cherishing the radiance of warmth it provided. She shrugged half-heartedly, tucking her feet underneath of herself to help warm them.

"I wasn't?"

"I'll say." Katara huffed, throwing her hands up in the air as she paced back and forth. "Of all the - you'd think that after four years - you haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you," Toph quipped, grinning. "I can't believe I almost forgot how frustratingly motherly you can be, Sugar Queen."

Sokka snorted from the corner of the room, throwing his hands up in defense as Katara sent him a glare. "Hey, don't even _try_ denying it, _Sugar Queen_."

Katara groaned in frustration as she moved towards the door, "Fine, whatever. I'll tell Aang the news. He'll be happy to hear his _sifu_ came for a visit and almost got herself killed by hypothermia." Katara hesitated as she moved to leave, turning back for just a second to smile at her old friend, "I'm glad you're here, Toph."

Toph smiled as well, nodding. "Me, too."

And then she was alone with Sokka, and the reason she had come to the South Pole in the first place instantly found itself at the forefront of her mind.

Best case scenario? He was Sokka, her best friend and war buddy and there _could_ be the possibility he at least liked her a little in the more romantic sense. Or would at least try to. He could tell her that he had always admired her and how he had always wondered just how things might've worked out between them had he not met Suki first (with a start, Toph realized she hadn't even wondered about her involvement).

The worst? Toph swallowed, tilting her head to the side as she imagined him freaking out, babbling on about how it couldn't work and about how awkward it was in the room and how he needed some air, and then he'd leave and she'd wake up in the morning to find out he had left in the middle of the night on the same ship she had used to visit him, never to be seen (or heard) again.

Spirits, she furiously hoped it wasn't choice B.


	3. Weather

... Heh. Yeah, I know Tokka Week is _long_ over, but I really got busy halfway through the week. I am determined to finish this, though, and to do Kataang Week too (though I think those'll be different drabbles and oneshots).

Sorry for the wait. :D; I hope you liked it regardless.

* * *

**Tokka Week: Day Three**

Weather

* * *

It was just a breeze.

The leaves twirled over themselves in Toph's stomach as she curled her toes unconsciously underneath herself, clearing her throat lightly. She could do this. She could _do this_. With a deep breath, Toph opened her mouth to speak - only to find Sokka's hand dropping down on her head to ruffle her hair.

"You've really grown, short-stuff," he chuckled slightly, and Toph tried to ignore the way his hand carelessly dusted across her ear as he tucked away a strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun, "but you're still short. Don't think that'll ever change."

"And you're as blunt as always," Toph commented dryly, though she couldn't keep the smile from crossing over her face. "Spirits, I haven't seen you in forever."

"You've never seen me," Sokka chided her, pausing for just a second before he scooped her up against him in a hug, laughing at something (she wasn't quite sure whether it was at himself or at her) into the top of her head, "We really need to make visits more often."

Toph swallowed thickly, tentatively moving to grasp him around the waist and grateful beyond words that there was no way he could see the way her face was heating up. She felt her emotions start to rise, building into a tempest that only made her want to run and hide - and Toph Bei Fong _never_ hid. "Next time I think you can visit _me_."

Sokka whined pitifully, unconsciously tightening his grip. "Your parents scare me."

Toph grinned into his chest, playfully patting his back, "Aw, Snoozles, that's just because they don't like you."

"Ha ha," Sokka snorted, "At least I would be coming in prepared with what to expect. Unlike you."

"Touché."

The air grew silent after that, though not in an uncomfortable way, and Toph let out a shaky sigh as she leaned into her best friend. Why did things always have to get complicated? Why couldn't things just be simple - for _once_? Why couldn't someone have told her when she met him that he would become her closest friend and to _not_ develop a silly adolescent crush?

Toph's voice was quiet when she asked, "How's Suki?"

At first Sokka didn't say anything, only tightened his grip for a second before it relaxed again. "All right, I guess. We don't get to talk often since she wanted to stay on Kyoshi Island. She sent me a hawk about a week ago, and I sent one back to her. I haven't heard back yet."

Toph nodded slowly before pushing herself out of Sokka's grasp and pulling herself back as if to _look_ at him. Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment in thought before she blurted, "You're taller."

Sokka blinked, studying her for a moment before his lips curled into a frown. "Okay, what gives?"

"What?"

Her tone was innocent and for a moment Sokka almost let it drop. _Almost_. "Come _on_, Toph. Don't play dumb with me, I know you better than anyone, remember? You're acting so... _weird_."

Toph snorted as her heart began to pound, faster and faster and harder and harder and, oh _God_, she was going to be swept away by the hurricane before she could even gather her thoughts.

"I-- I-" She stuttered lightly, backing away swiftly. "Sokka, I'm-"

"Toph!"

The sound of Aang's jubilant voice, still lilting with his carefree nature after all the years, broke through then as he ran into the room, enveloping the earthbender in a light hug. "Spirits, Toph! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, Twinkletoes," Toph snorted, sighing into her old friend's shoulder, "Didn't realize I was late."

"You could've written."

Toph raised an eyebrow as she pulled out of the hug, waving a hand carelessly in front of her face. "Uh, blind? Remember?"

Aang shrugged. "You could've had someone else write for you." He beamed slightly, grabbing her by the hand and tugging gently, "but you're here now. So come on, you two! The whole village is waiting."

A blank expression crossed over Toph's face as she stared in his direction. "Say what?" Aang's eyes sparkled as he grinned at her, a similar expression breaking out on Sokka's face as well.

"What? Did you think you could just show up and we wouldn't do _anything_?"

All Toph could do was groan.


End file.
